Oerth Journal
| Oerth Journal | |
 |
|
| Oerth Journal logo used from issue #34+. | |
| Type: | Periodical |
|---|---|
| Code/Abbreviation: | OJ# |
| Edition: | Various |
| Editor(s): | Kristoph Nolen (2018+) |
| Publisher: | Council of Greyhawk, Greyhawk Online |
| First Published: | May 1995 |
| ISSN: | 2834-6289 |
The Oerth Journal is an online periodical devoted to the World of Greyhawk. Though consisting chiefly of fan-produced content, some of this content has eventually found its way into canon, and many contributors to The Oerth Journal have gone on to write Greyhawk content for professional publications. The Oerth Journal has occasionally featured Greyhawk content by professional D&D authors, such as Robert J. Kuntz, Lenard Lakofka, Gary Holian, Erik Mona, and Roger E. Moore.
Other notable contributors include Eric L. Boyd, Creighton Broadhurst, Stephen S. Greer, Allan Grohe, Paul Looby, Rick Miller, Denis Tetreault, Frederick Weining, Sam Weiss, and Steve Wilson.
History
Volume one
The Oerth Journal was originally published by the Council of Greyhawk.
The first issue of The Oerth Journal was released in May of 1995 with Steve "Tamerlain" Wilson as Editor-in-Chief and Erik "Iquander" Mona as Managing Editor.[1] The first few issues featured contributions from Steve Wilson, Len Lakofka, Gary Holian, Eric Boyd, Roger Moore, Robert Kuntz, and Mona himself. Mona's run as Editor-in-Chief from #3 lasted until the seventh issue was released in June of 1998.[2]
Nathan "Nellisir" Irving was Editor for the next four issues, his last being #11 in May of 2000.[3] Under Irving's watch, The Oerth Journal began featuring cover art, starting with #10.
Volume one used two logos. The original logo was a fairly simple, black, uncial font with the issue number in a double-height red font. In issue #9, a new logo was devised which dropped the large, red issue number but used the same font with a golden foil texture.
Volume two
The Oerth Journal #12 and #13 were co-Edited by Marc "Tizoc" Gonzalez and Jason Zavoda,[4][5] with Gonzalez becoming sole Editor with the release of #14 in April of 2002.{csb| Oerth Journal #14 (2001) |1}}
These first issues of volume 2 (OJ12 and OJ13) were originally released as "Vol. 2, no.1" and "Vol. 2, no.2" but did not include issue numbers continuing consecutively from the previous issues. This was reconsidered, and the issues were appended with #12 and #13 when they were later recompiled. Issues #14 and forward retained both volume designations and individual issue numbers.[6] It would be nearly two years before the next issue would be seen, with #15's release in January of 2004.
The following issue (#16) would take more than another year to complete, released in June of 2005, this time with Andy "Fallon" Seale at the helm.
Rick "Duicarthan" Miller would take over as sixth Editor-in-Chief for #17,[7] released in October of 2005. Irving (#17) and Brian "Cebrion" McRae (#18 - #26) were listed as Assistant Editors-in-Chief. Miller would release a total of ten issues, the last being #26 released in October of 2011. After that, the Oerth Journal languished a bit, not seeing another issue for nearly another five years with no next issue in development.
Denis "Argon" Lovatt would take the helm in April 2016 for one issue, #27.[8] It was one of the largest issues to that point, though Lovatt himself had to write 24 of the 40 pages.[9] Three more years would pass before the Oerth Journal would be picked up again.
The definite article "The" was first dropped from the title "Oerth Journal" on the cover of the magazine under Seale (OJ#16), but Miller returned to using it in OJ#18. Beginning with OJ#27 (2016)by then-editor Denis "Argon" Lovatt[9] it was once again dropped, but it was still used in the masthead. "The" was briefly used in the cover logo once afterward (OJ#28), but was dropped entirely from OJ#29 forward.
Five distinct logos were used in volume two. Under Gonzalez the same logo from volume one used by the Council of Greyhawk was continued. Seale used the same logo without the definite article "the". Miller then carried Seale's logo forward, but later devised two logos of his own (on in OJ#18, #22-26 and the other in OJ#19-21). Lovatt used a single, newer logo ((OJ#27).
Volume three
After assuming the lead of Greyhawkonline.com in 2018, Kristoph Nolen also became Publisher and eighth Editor-in-Chief of the Oerth Journal[10] with Miller listed as co-editor in the print edition of issue #28 (dated February 2019) In the PDF version, Miller was listed in "Editorial Assistance". OJ#28 was a "handout" for a panel seminar at GaryCon XI (2019) called Celebrating Greyhawk: a Fandom Renaissance. For the very first time the Oerth Journal was physically in print and was 30 pages. There were only 100 print copies made and it was very well-received. It remains available as a PDF download like all other Oerth Journals. As sole the Editor-in-Chief from #29 forward, Nolen became the first Editor to consistently deliver the Oerth Journal quarterly—a first for the magazine, despite being a long-held goal of various editors.[11] With issue #31 in the Winter of 2019, four issues had been released in the same calendar year—another first.
On March 14, 2020, just after the announcement of the cancellation of GaryCon XII[12] due to the COVID-19 virus, Greyhawk Online announced that the Oerth Journal would be in print full time for every issue. The magazine would still remain the same free PDF it had always been, but print copies would be available as a perk of becoming a supporter of Greyhawk Online.
Virtually the same logo used by Lovatt was on the covers of OJ#28-#32. The magazine once again had a new logo from issue #33 forward.
Gallery
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no.1, first issue - Wilson, Editor-In-Chief -
no.10, first cover art - Irving, Editor-In-Chief -
no.13, Gonzalez' 1st issue as Editor-In-Chief -
no.17, Miller's 1st issue as Editor-In-Chief -
no.28, Nolen's 1st issue as Editor-In-Chief
External link
References
Citations
- ↑ Oerth Journal #1 (1995) , p.30.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #7 (1998) , p.45.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #11 (2000) , p.84.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #12 (2001) , p.1.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #13 (2001) , p.1.
- ↑ Tizoc-Gonzales, Marc. Oerth Journal FAQ. Archived from the original on 07 December 2003. Retrieved on 22 January 2024. "The first volume, which consists of eleven issues, was produced under the auspices of the Council of Greyhawk. After the start of the second volume of the OJ, we thought to restart the numbering. However, this idea was eventually rejected, and the volume two issues now continue the original numbering. Thus issue 12 numbers what was briefly called volume II, issue 1 and sometimes notated as 2.1. (Similarly issue 13 names what was once called 2.2.)"
- ↑ Oerth Journal #17 (2005) , p.2.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #27 (2016) , p.1.
- ↑ a b Oerth Journal #27 (2016) , p.2.
- ↑ Oerth Journal #28 (2019) , p.1.
- ↑ Tizoc-Gonzales, Marc. Oerth Journal FAQ. Archived from the original on 07 December 2003. Retrieved on 22 January 2024. "One goal of the second volume of the OJ was to produce four issues a year. However, the volunteer nature of the Journal means that issues are released irregularly. While seasonal production remains a goal, in 2001 two issues (12 & 13) were produced, and the first issue of 2002 (issue 14) was released at the end of April."
- ↑ GaryCon.com